last month our friends had their 20th wedding anniversary. to go along with our gift i made a card using one of my beaded wire hearts, paint, fishing wire, and recycled cardboard.

of course, my first choice is always making the entire present hand made. but even if i don't have the opportunity to make the gift entirely myself i do like giving the present a personal touch, either by making at least the card myself or by being a little creative about the packaging. this time i hand crafted the card.

first, i cut a piece of card board and painted the surface white. i used generous brush strokes to give it some texture.

then i used metallic copper paint for the border. to make straight lines without the danger of messing up i used a simple trick:

i took some tape and stuck it about a quarter inch from the edge. (same idea as using masking tape when painting walls etc.) once the paint had dried i pulled up the tape carefully and voilà! i had my perfectly straight border.

to attach the heart i used clear fishing wire. that way the recipients of the card could easily take off the heart if they wanted to. my friend (who received this card) actually told me that she used the heart to decorate her photo album. this made me really happy, since that was the whole idea: creating something that will last.

what about you? do you make cards yourself or do you usually buy them?

Your card is sooo beautiful. I'll try copying this heart. Its details are amazing - and they remind me of tiny bicycles at our fireplace and fishes in Sylvia's bathroom! You've got such a marvelous imagination to creat such things.And, yes, I try making my own cards, too.

Your site has some great ideas. I like making cards to make them extra special, but lately I have been so busy that I have had to buy them at the dollar store and embellish them. I was able to check your site out today because I am too sick to teach.